Techno-Economics of Grid-Tied Battery Energy Storage System Through Repowering of Utility-Scale Solar PV Projects in India

Sharma, A.K., Purohit, I., Motiwala, S., Kumar, S., & Purohit, P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7265-6960 (2026). Techno-Economics of Grid-Tied Battery Energy Storage System Through Repowering of Utility-Scale Solar PV Projects in India. Sustainability 18 (14) e7455. 10.3390/su18147455.

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Abstract

India’s rapid expansion of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is increasingly constrained by aging assets and the temporal mismatch between generation and peak demand. This study develops a techno-economic framework integrating battery energy storage systems (BESSs) with repowered solar PV projects, using repowered electricity as a low-cost charging source. A capacity-based assessment estimates national repowering potential of 7.2 GWp under power purchase agreement constraints and 10.9 GWp under technical limits. The levelized cost of repowered electricity is ₹1.40/kWh, significantly lower than prevailing utility-scale solar tariffs under stated assumptions. Levelized storage costs range from ₹5.08 to ₹4.12/kWh for 2–6 h durations, declining with improved inverter and balance-of-system utilization. Financial analysis under a ₹10 per kWh peak tariff arbitrage scenario yields internal rates of return between 17.5% and 24.2%, with positive project viability across configurations. Sensitivity analysis identifies capital cost as the dominant economic driver. Environmental benefits include annual greenhouse gas reductions of 13.8–17.2 MtCO2, accumulating to 411–514 MtCO2 over the project lifetime. These findings demonstrate that repowering-integrated battery storage offers a cost-effective, scalable pathway to enhance renewable integration, displace fossil fuel peak generation, and support India’s low-carbon transition, highlighting a viable framework for improving system flexibility and overall system performance.

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